Food items are typically prepared through the application of one or more food preparation techniques or cooking processes to one or more food components including slicing, peeling, grating, mashing, aging, fermentation, cooling, or freezing or warming, steaming, boiling, roasting, sautéing, frying, grilling, barbecuing, or broiling. While a consumer may wish to ingest the food item, the consumer may be unable to do so because the consumer does not have the necessary food components or the time, means, or skill to apply the necessary techniques to prepare the food item.
Because of the organic origin of some or all of the its components, the freshness of a food item typically degrades in quality with time. Once prepared, a food item typically must be stored in some way to permit it to be consumed as intended. To slow the degradation process, and in order to maintain freshness, food items are typically placed in closed or sealed containers, and/or stored or maintained to lessen the exposure of the food items to uncontrolled environmental conditions. Conditions at times do not permit the use of such protective storage. As a result, consumers are prevented from ingesting the food item.
Certain food items may be unknown or unfamiliar to consumers. Consumers may wish to try such one of such food items but are reluctant or unable to do so because, for example, of the difficulty in preparing or cost of the food item, or the general unavailability of the food item to the consumer. Promoters may wish to introduce of a new food item to consumers but, given the size of the target group, cannot afford to actually prepare and serve a sample of the actual food item to each member of the group.
Other food items may be familiar, possibly all too familiar to certain consumers. Due to dietary or health restrictions, the consumers are required to avoid these food items. Given the lack of availability of a non-restricted version of the food item, consumers satisfy their craving for a given restricted food item by ingesting it, contrary to the advice they receive or even their better judgment. Religious or other restrictions may prevent a consumer from ingesting a food item.
Consumer may wish to have certain food items that can be prepared and served with one or more food items that may not be available. Other food items may have a characteristic such as a taste, flavor, or texture that a user may wish to mask or heighten through the use of one or more food items that may not be generally available.
It is clear that there is a demand for a version of food items that conveys certain information about the actual food item but does not have the preparation, storage characteristics, risks, or restricted components associated with the food item. The present invention satisfies these various demands.